Fluidized Bed Filters?

[FishBait]

Well not in the professional marine crowd anyway. I actually had one for over a year and defended it when many many others had them fail and leak whatever it is into the water...alot of them lost mucho dinero in livestock. But just a few months back mine finally died and got really hot...glad I was there to take it out when I was. Plus it NEVER turned back on after a power outtage. I just replaced it with Magdrive and said goodbye to my troubles

Maybe it's a different purpose pump you have, cuz these Rios I'm talking about are 600+ gph models...maybe the smaller ones are more reliable, dunno.

 

[JeffP]

JBW,

I am not sure I understand why bacteria would replicate faster in a FBF versus other types of filters in response to an ammonia spike.

 

[slipknottin]

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[JeffP]

Thanks Slipknottin. That was my understanding. I was just wondering if I missed something.

 

[JamisonBWolsh]

oki...im sorry... i thought mine was a rio. i dont know why? anyway get the maxi-jet 295 gph with sponge..it works really good. a fluidized bed filters holds alot more good bacteria then even an underground filter does. It is the BEST bio filter out there due to the fact that the bacteria lives on each grain of sand. NOTHING COMPARES to this. ALSO, if you get one, you dont have to cycle that big tank (well drop the process from a few weeks to a few days). WHEN I clean my filter pads, overfeed, or whatever, I dont have to worry about any spikes. It does its job extremely well.

ps. my fluidized bed filter has NO gunk in it....due to the sponge...when i first had it i didnt have the sponge on it..so there was gunk that floated to the top of the sand..then i simply removed it. now, with the sponge, no gunk. ITs really a nice addition to any setup...

 

[Richer]

Keep this in mind:

A FBF filter has the _potential_ to hold a large bacterial population. Fine, I agree with that because for the most part its true. However, if there is only an "X" amount of ammonia produced by your fish, will you get a larger bacterial colony in the FBF compared to tanks filtered by canisters, hob, etc.? No.

IMHO, there is no need for a FBF filter. Conventional HOBs, Canisters, W/D filters can easily handle a decently stocked tank. If your fish do manage to produce enough ammonia to twart even conventional filtration, you have a problem. Either there isn't enough biomedia in your filters, or you are grossly overstocked.

Another thing to keep in mind. If these filters are the ultimate biological filters, how come more of us don't use them? From what I see, they are relatively inexpensive compared to a decent sized Eheim canister. Why don't we all just go the FBF route?

One more thing I'd like to add. How can a FBF speed up the cycling process? It doesn't make sense to me. You can have all the surface area in the world, and that will never speed up the cycling process. Adding media from an establish tank however, will speed the process up.

HTH
-Richer

 

[StevieM]

My whole idea was to make the water conditions even better for the fish, they are ok now...but what the heck?? I agree with the point that if there isn't suffucient "food" for the bacteria the colonies will only grow to that certain size and hold...the fish are doing fine for now, so i guess I will just remain in a holding pattern until i get a larger tank that is...thanks for your help

steve

 

[JamisonBWolsh]

STEVE......


if you take your used fluidized bed filter and add it to the new tank then that new tank would be considered pretty much cycled. prove to me that you can get more bacteria in the canistors..let me know. besides..i have an emporer 400 with a slightly overcrowded tank. i dont want to switch cleaning the pads bi-weekly and i dont want to worry about "what if i overfeed" my tank never has spiked or had any measurements of ammonia. IMO, having a fluidized bed filter worry free.

ps. there is no way a canistor holds more good bacteria then a fluidized bed filter.

 

[Richer]

I never said a canister holds more bacteria than a FBF. Nothing in my post says that. I told you, I agree with the notion that FBF do have the potential to carry more bacteria than your typical canister. However, have you considered how many people are able to keep a healthy tank without one? Very many. I even have one friend who has a grossly overstocked 66 gallon tank with nothing more than a fluval 404 and an aquaclear 300. I assure you, this tank is overstocked, he has enough goldfish in there to supply 10 30gallon tanks. As ugly as his tank may be (due to algae, and general fish crap) he does not have a biological filtration problem.
You tell me this, how can a sterile FBF "instantly" cycle a brand new tank? It doesn't make sense to me. BTW, I do realize you said used FBF. But your first post about instant cycling lead me to believe you were mentioning a brand new one. Lets say you do get a used one. What about the tank that had this FBF going? There is no doubt in my mind it will undergo at least a minicycle.
erp, one more thing. You know the saying don't put all your eggs in one basket? I'd say that goes for a FBF. What if the powerhead running the FBf fails and you don't notice? Big trouble imho. Multiple filters, will always outdo one big all encompassing one.

-Richer

 

[JamisonBWolsh]

i didnt say sterile.. i said "used". if he uses it on his 20gallon for a while...until a bacteria colony establishes themselves....he can switch it the new tank and it wil then be considered cycled due to the fact the baceria is in the canistor. the fbf is a failsafe. i dont have to worry about killing the bacteria if i overclean my powerfilter or over vacuum my gravel, or even overfeed. What if your friends canistor fails or the powerfilter fails? then say goodbye to all those fish that you love. a fbf is a great ADDITION to a powerfilter or canistor...